Nokia gets greenlight for Microsoft tie-up in China

Nokia has received approval from Chinese authorities to sell its mobile phone business to Microsoft Corp, adding there has been no request for it to change its patent practices.

Nokia agreed in September to sell the business to Microsoft in a 5.4 billion euro deal.

Nokia and Microsoft had hoped to close the transaction by the first quarter this year but Nokia last month pushed back the expected date to April due to ongoing reviews by antitrust regulators in Asia.

Nokia says that it still expects the Microsoft deal to close this month.

The deal has already got approval from the EU and the US.

As a phone maker, Nokia has paid rivals for the use of their technology licenses as well as charging for its own.

Google and Samsung had asked Chinese regulators to ensure that the deal with Microsoft would not lead to higher licensing fees.

But Nokia says that it has not been accused of unfair practices regarding its patents.

For more on this, we are now joined by Ben Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.

That was Ben Cavender, Associate principal at China Market Research in Shanghai.